On May 31, 2016,
Taliban
The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, militant Islamist, jihadist, and Pasht ...
insurgents posing as government officials kidnapped around 220 civilians at a fake checkpoint along the Kunduz-Takhar highway near Arzaq Angor Bagh in
Kunduz province,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
, on the outskirts of the city of
Kunduz
, native_name_lang = prs
, other_name =
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg
, imagesize = 300
, image_alt =
, image_caption =
, image_ ...
. More hostages were killed and kidnapped on June 8.
Events
The civilians were kidnapped from four buses, three vans, and three cars while travelling on the highway. Most of the passengers were eventually released, but at least seventeen have been killed, and at least eighteen (some sources say "around 20") are still being held hostage. Some of the hostages were killed on the spot, and some were killed after they were transported to the village of Omarkhel in
Char Dara.
A rescue mission for the eighteen or more civilians was launched. The
Afghan Armed Forces rescued many of the passengers, though some soldiers were also taken hostage. Six people were killed after trying to escape when the security forces arrived.
On June 8, 2016, at least 12 hostages being held were executed, and 10 were released.
Another 40 were kidnapped on the same day.
Four people were killed and two more kidnapped after another connected event in
Uruzgan Province
Uruzgan (Dari), also spelled as Urozgan or Oruzgan, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. Uruzgan is located in the center of the country. The population is 436,079, and the province is mostly a tribal society. Tarinkot serves as t ...
. Over 250 members of the Taliban claimed to be involved. Other groups were also possibly involved.
Related incidents
Soon after the attack, four suicide bombers attacked a courthouse in
Ghazni
Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
, killing at least nine people, and themselves, and injuring 13. Six days before the attack, 11 were killed on a court minibus attack, soon after the death of
Mullah Akhtar Mansour. All of these attacks have been conducted by the Taliban.
The Taliban held Kunduz briefly one year before the attack.
See also
*
List of Islamist terrorist attacks
The following is a list of Islamist terrorist attacks.
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2001-2010 2001
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2011-2020 2011
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List of terrorist incidents, January–June 2016
This is a list of terrorist incidents which took place in 2016, including attacks by violent non-state actors for political motives. Note that terrorism related to drug wars and cartel violence is not included in these lists. Ongoing military con ...
*
List of hostage crises
This is a list of notable hostage crises by date.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Hostage Crises
+
Hostage crises
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liber ...
Notes
:1.It has not been confirmed whether or not six "attackers" that were killed for running away were actually attackers or not.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabul attacks
2016 murders in Afghanistan
Mass murder in 2016
Taliban attacks
Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2016
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
May 2016 crimes in Asia
June 2016 crimes in Asia
Hostage taking in Afghanistan